Why a small town?

Deciding to leave the city for a small community is a very specific choice. I had the opportunity to think about this for an article I wrote for the South Main New Urbanist Neighborhoods site. The article with photos can be seen and read here. As you can probably tell, I’m still exploring my style on the page (and apologies for the blatant ‘Cheers’ reference). The article follows:

Buena Vista – Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Buena Vista is a great community. Wouldn’t you agree? People love being here and they love it for a reason. They love the mountains and the people and the rivers and the snow. They love the lives they get to lead here. I’ve been coming out here for the better part of ten years and recently moved back after a brief stint elsewhere. Being away from this place gave me plenty of time to reflect on what, exactly, was driving me to be back here.

I grew up in the suburbs of Saint Louis, Missouri and spent the last couple of years in Denver. Without a doubt, nice places to spend time - tree lined streets, quiet neighborhoods and good schools. Every possible product from every store, every first run movie, every major band or brand was available to see or purchase or listen to within 15 minutes drive. The access to snowboarding, hiking and kayaking that Denver has is excellent. Saint Louis offers plenty of singletrack and weekend warrior terrain to explore after leaving work at 5 pm on a Friday. It also contains a significant fraction of my family with whom I am close. So why didn’t I stay and live my life in a place where anything and everything I could possibly want to have or do or buy was available at a moments notice? And more to the point, why didn’t I feel connected to the places that housed and shaped twenty-plus years of my life?

Connection or bonding, is a funny thing. There are a few groups of people and by extension, places, that I feel particularly connected to. In each case, the strength of the feeling is related to serving the community. The more I’m able to be of service; the more I’m able to give to, invest in and interact with a place or group of people, the more connected I feel. Buena Vista is a town rich in service opportunities.

Everyone who lives and works in this community lives and works to serve one another. This gets reinforced every day as we see each other in different contexts. You might see your town councilman at the town meeting, out having dinner with his family, and maybe hard at work on the job site where your new neighbors are building a house. You run into your pharmacist not only in the drug store, but kayaking in the river, and later, at the community dance. If you’ve spent time in a small community like BV, you’ve had experiences like these. And I love it! I love running into people I know. I love the serendipitous nature of the conversations that take place and the opportunities that arise simply because we bump into each other. It binds us together in a way that’s constantly being reinforced by these small interactions.

This is, of course, the double-edged sword of living in a small town. We are, quite literally, in each other’s lives. And for some, it is too much. They long for the anonymity of city life where it’s easy to live nearly every day, never bumping into anyone you know outside of work and home. And sometimes, when I’ve heard the umpti-millionth blow-by-blow-who-did-what-to-whom bit of gossip for the fourth time, I too long for a little space from my fellow Buena Vistans. But I’m glad to be back home.

The most interesting thing I’ve found coming back to town after a couple years away, is an incredible amount of energy from many arenas aimed squarely at celebrating, preserving and expanding what we as a community have to offer. Look at the open arts show. Look at the huge array of services our recreation department has for us this spring. Look at the Collegiate Peaks music festival. Look at the huge turnout in support of the proposed rec center. Look at the vibrancy offered by the new co-op and CSA. Look at the new CMC building. Look what we are creating here in our homes! Fueled and shepherded by the enthusiasm, energy and drive of our friends and neighbors right here in Buena Vista. And the best part is that there is a need for much more. The opportunity to serve is an open door: You can be a mentor, serve on town government or an advisory board, teach a class at CMC, lead a cross country ski group, be a firefighter or search and rescue responder, volunteer with the Orpheum or the Boys and Girls Club or Arts Council or Avmad. Whatever you can do, whatever you’re excited about, please do. Whatever you are doing, thank you. We are this community and we make it what it is. And it is great.

Alex Telthorst is a Buena Vista resident who spreads his time evenly between water+gravity sports, online tech news sites, and his latest entrepreneurial venture. You can email him or read more of his thoughts at YBWhoUR.com.(say it aloud and add a question mark /=)